Best Registered Agent Services in South Carolina

South Carolina does not make LLCs file annual reports. The annual report fee is $0. Your agent's job here is narrow. They take service of process and forward what the state sends. You do not need a compliance dashboard for South Carolina.

Your agent's name and address are the public half of your filing. The Secretary of State holds no names of members or managers at all. It says so in its own business entity FAQ. What the record does carry is the two names on your Articles of Organization, the organizer who signed and the registered agent. Hiring a service replaces the agent line. The organizer line stays as filed. Anyone can also run the state's Registered Agent Search against a person's name. It returns every South Carolina company that listed them.

Lose your agent and the state can dissolve your LLC. Notice goes to the address on file. If that was an agent you dropped, you may never read it. You then get two years to apply for reinstatement. Was the cause an unfiled tax return? Then you need a certificate of tax compliance from the Department of Revenue first.

Forming a new LLC and want to spend less in year one? ZenBusiness gives the first year of agent service away when you form through them. It renews at $199. Harbor Compliance sells the first year at $99 and renews at $149. It will hold the lower rate if you prepay two years. Read the renewal number before the headline number. That is where the money is.

Single state South Carolina agents exist and they undercut the national services. They also stop at the state line. Northwest and the other national names keep one account and one address if you register elsewhere later. If South Carolina is the only state you will ever file in, the local option is real.

Already have an LLC and want to switch? File a Notice of Change of Registered Agent with the Secretary of State. The state fee is $10. Northwest fills the form in for you at no charge. Its $125 rate does not move at renewal.

South Carolina has no annual report and no post formation deadline to miss. So a package built around a compliance calendar is selling you a problem this state does not give you. A reliable agent at a fair price wins here. Still choosing a formation service? See our guide to the best LLC formation services in South Carolina.

• The renewal, not the first year. ZenBusiness moves from $99 to $199. Harbor Compliance moves from $99 to $149. Northwest charges $125 in both years.
• Change of agent fee. Switching agents costs $10 at the Secretary of State.
• Ordinary mail is not the same as legal mail. Northwest scans service of process the day it lands. You also get five scans of regular business mail a year. After that it is $15 a document. Ask any service where that line sits.
• Certificates you can buy yourself. A Certificate of Existence costs $10 from the Secretary of State, a price fixed by statute. The office has posted a scam warning about mailers charging hundreds for the same paper. Your agent is a different purchase.
• Cancellation timing. Cancel mid year with nobody lined up and your LLC has no agent. That is the case the dissolution rule above is written for.

1. Confirm your agent filing. Run your company through the Business Entities Online search. Check that the agent name and street address on file are the ones you expect.
2. Apply for your EIN. File IRS Form SS-4 free at irs.gov. It takes about 15 minutes. You need it to open a bank account.
3. Open a business bank account. Bring your Articles of Organization, EIN letter and operating agreement. Most South Carolina banks want all three.
4. Register for state taxes. Selling goods? You need a Retail License from the Department of Revenue, one for each retail location. State sales tax is 6%. Counties that voted for it add another 1%.
5. Set up document alerts. Log into your agent's portal and add your email and phone. You want to hear the same day if you are served.